Returning the Favor and other Slices of Life

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

As you know if you've visited here in the past few months, or if you've paid any attention to the banner on the side of the page, I'm involved in a groupd called Shakespeare Carolina. Involved to the extent that I'm directing the next production. A little play, called Hamlet, you might have heard of it once or twice.

Well, with public funding for the arts in Charlotte being what it is (that is, fucked), fundraising is tough. Our little company actually managed to come close to breaking even on our first show between contributed income and earned income (i.e. ticket sales). That's almost unheard of for a small theatre, and would never have happened if some great folks in our cast hadn't come out of their pockets with considerable donations at the last minute. When someone you know is working two jobs to make ends meet comes off with $300 to keep the show alive, it means a ton. And that happened in more than one instance on Shrew. Just when we thought we were going to have to punt or surrender, somebody came through for us.

As much as I love those folks for that, I'd like to not have to sweat that again. So I'm looking for donors. A lot of 'em. Specifically, I'm looking for 100 people to step up and donate $25 each to Shakespeare Carolina. This would give us the money we need to produce our summer stuff, and let us bank any ticket money for future productions.

If anyone out there works for companies that match donations, let me know (johnhartnessATgmailDOTcom) and I'll get you our non-profit paperwork. If anyone is feeling particularly generous and wants to donate more than $250, same thing applies. The organization is a federally-licensed 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization, so anything donated is tax-deductible. Donations over $250 require a letter from the charity acknowledging the gift, which we'll be happy to provide.

So loosen up the purse strings, go to the website and donate $25 (or more. More is fine.) to Shakespeare Carolina, and keep me dressing up in silly costumes!